Dear visitor, welcome to FertilityZone .
If this is your first visit here, please read the Help. It explains in detail how this page works.
To use all features of this page, you should consider registering.
Please use the registration form, to register here or read more information about the registration process.
If you are already registered, please login here.

Breastfeeding and Colic

Right, now correct me if I'm wrong but I didn't think BF babies were supposed to suffer? Poppy has had a couple of awful episodes now and it's very stressful, especially whilst trying to field a two year old!

Anyway, a quick Google has taught me the following - check my latch is good (think this is fine but I may have been a bit lazy a few times due to knackeredness) and don't switch breasts half way through a feed as it messes with the type of milk ingested. Now,I don't know why I started switching as I never did with Freya and she was fine.

Ditto! Breastfeeding and colic... Doctor said that it doesn't matter whether they are breast or not they can still get it have tried infacol and dentinox colic drops, gripe water ( he threw that up) co lief is next on the list. Will keep you posted if I find anything good xx

Have you tried putting a towel under the mattress to heighten the head up a little bit, not too much, but just enough to enable the wind to come up while lying down. Tummy massages, cycling the legs and infacol, but I'm sure you've tried them all. Xxx

Hi, Hun
I C had colic as well and he was very much a boob only baby. If you switch baby over too soon from one breast to the other then bubs will get mostly fore-milk - the thinnger watery stuff that is more likely to give them wind which is why it is important to be 100% sure that the breast is truly empty. I used to feed C from 1 breast for 2 feeds in a row - even when I thought the boob was empty cos I could not express anymore, if he was happily sucking and swallowing I would let him stay on that side - if he pulled off and screamed that he was still hungry then he would get number 2.
Not that it cured the problem but it did improve things a bit - he went from projectile poo as a result of colic to just normal breastmilk poo even if still rather windy.

In the end, tbh, I don't think anything really worked, but it did clear up quite suddenly at 11 or 12 weeks for which I am eternally grateful. It is really horrible to feel helpless when your child is obviously in pain and the lack of sleep we have as a result only serves to make it even worse...

Hi, just another thought I read somewhere (in desperation when DS was colicky) that there's a theory that colic is caused by overstimulation, I had to reread and rereread cos I thought how does a tiny baby who sleeps so much get over stimulated, anyway it's something about stress and effect on muscle tone which causes problems. Anyway by the time I read this DS started to get better on his own anyway, no amount of infacol or other stuff helped.

I wondered whether I shouldn't have had the tv on when feeding that kind of thing? I don't know if it's meaningless or maybe there's a way to make it more relaxing for Poppy, different position, more cushions, just a thought, I hope it doesn't last

Raising the mattress after feeds can help, as does tummy massage and leg cycling as AG suggested.
Sometimes I think all the remedies just make you feel as if you're doing something - colic does tend to go away by itself in time - generally around 3 months.

Just remembered - Here is the oldest advised remedy that actually did help C when I did it...
Carry baby on your back! Get one of those baby-slings that can be wrapped in a great number of ways. Get someone to help you (if you can't manage yourself) to place baby with his/her tummy against your back and wrap the sling/carrier/a blanket/a towel - whatever it takes - to hold baby securely against you. You are providing a number of things in one go

1) as you move baby's tummy gets massaged by slight movement against your back
2) baby's head is eleveated for easier winding
3) baby hears your heartbeat, breathing etc which are soothing sounds so will help baby to relax
4) as opposed to having baby tummy to tummy with you, this leaves you with your hands truly free so that you can cook, make a cuppa etc - just remember not to sit and lean against a backrest.

i go to a baby sensory class and the girl was saying if you use an inflatable ball (like a beach ball) put baby on there tummy and roll them back and forward it helps, i don't know if it works but i suppose it's worth a go x

I am anti dummy too but it's got to be worth a try if it helps to avoid lots of discomfort and crying.

We struggled from the afternoon onwards yesterday, although she did sleep from 10.00pm until 2.30am! Am seeing the HV tomorrow so will see what she has to say, although frankly I reckon you lovely lot are more helpful!

Oh, and I have a confession, Poppy has been napping on her tummy in the day, she just seems so much more comfortable and I figured when I am around to keep an eye then what's the harm? Wouldn't do it at night of course.

That sounds good Rene, I have a sling like that, would def need hlp for the back though.

Hv came at lumchtime, E has colic, she said is very common in c section babies and especially as she got stuck. All to do with the nerves in her neck, explains why she holds her head up lots and her neck seems so strong. It's not, it's like mini whiplash. Advised seeing a craniopathist to realign the plates in her head.. Gave me lots of massage tips etc to help alleviate her pain. Said putting on her side to sleep like i do is a good idea but not at night xxx

my LO had colic whilst breastfeediing. infacol for me was an absolute godsend as was putting a wedge under hs mattress and lettin him sleep on his side.

the 1 thing that my hv did mention was introduce a dummy after 6 weeks of continous breatfeeding. if you do it before 6 weeks it can interfere with sucking action on the breast. they learn to suck dummie in a different way and if introduced too early it can confuse the baby. dummys have also been proven to help reduce the risk of cot death. if their concentrating on sucking whilst sleeping then theyre not forgetting to breathe.

infacol does take about a week to kick in though, and you have to use it religiously before every feed. my LO didnt come off infacol until he was about 18 months cos every time he had a bottle (by that time) of milk, if he hadnt had infacol his wind still got trapped.